Michael Oren: All options still on the table for Iran

In CNN interview Israeli Ambassador to US discusses pending release of Gilad Schalit, Iranian plot against embassies in DC.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Michael Oren pose 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Michael Oren pose 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren on Wednesday night said that all options are still on the table regarding Iran.
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Oren discussed the recently uncovered Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US, the pending release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity, and the Iranian nuclear threat.
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When asked about the security concerns associated with releasing more than 1,000 Palestinian terrorists, many with blood on their hands, in exchange for Gilad Schalit, Oren said that  Israel has a contract with soldiers and their families. Although making a deal with Hamas was not a simple or easy decision, soldiers put their lives on the line to protect the State of Israel and the government is responsible for protecting them, he said.
Israel and Hamas recently agreed on a prisoner swap deal in which Gilad Schalit, who was kidnapped and held captive by Hamas in Gaza for more than five years, would be released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners, many serving life sentences for killing Israelis.
In the interview, the ambassador related the recently uncovered Iranian plan to assassinate the Saudi Arabianambassador and attack the Saudi and Israeli Embassies in Washington, D.C., to attacks on the Israeli Embassy and Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1990's. Considering the nature of these attacks, as well as numerous others carried out by the Iranian regime, Oren warned of what Iranian state-sponsored terror would look like if the regime were allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
The ambassador reiterated that in order to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability, all options, including a military strike, were still on the table.
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